The Big Read(ing) Challenge

According to List Challenges, the BBC did this survey back in 2003 called "The Big Read" and asked the British public to vote on the best loved novels of all time.

While the page is no longer updated and dwells in their archives, BBC's list continues to spark to memes and challenge list-makers like myself to check off their progress. So, as I added it to the bucket list, I discovered that it wasn't the only list out there. Rookie mistake.

Goodreads features a shelf called 100 Books to Read Before you Die and The Greatest Books of All Time website showcases a list of 130 "best of" books using an algorithm based on how many lists a particular book appears on. I mean, geez, if you want to get super specific, check out the list of ALL of their lists...Good job putting that click bait together intern-who-ever-you-are.

One of the more sentimental lists that I found (and appreciated) was this one by Richard Davies on AbeBooks who also gave the why behind reading the books. There were also quite a few must-reads on a young adult list from Time Magazine.

However the BEST list I found was contained in a single meme:

So, what to do when my checklist might not match the litany of contenders gathered on the lists I mentioned above? Life is too short to struggle though books that you don't enjoy. The point is to read, to learn and to grow.

Therefore, I am creating my own bucket list: The Big Read(ing) Challenge

For the purposes of my bucket list, I'll keep track of those reading milestones here.

But for the other books I finish? Well, I'm sure that I'll devise some other list of my own, perhaps a yearly count so that I set a goal for always reading more. (Updated: of COURSE I made another list to keep track of those yearly counts! You didn't think that I would miss another opportunity to create a list did you?)

The Big Read(ing) Challenge and Bonus Challenge*

✔ 1984, George Orwell

✔ A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving

A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

✔ Animal Farm, George Orwell

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

Antonement, Ian McEwan

✔ Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

✔ The BFG, Roald Dahl

Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

Bitter Lemons, Lawrence Durrell

✔ Black Beauty, Anna Sewell

Bleak House, Charles Dickens

✔ Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

Brighton Rock, Graham Greene

Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown

✔ The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

Catch-22, Joseph Heller

✔ Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

Cider with Rosie, Laurie Lee

The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

✔ Common Sense, Thomas Paine

✔ Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx

The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

✔ Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville

✔ The Diary of A Young Girl, Anne Frank

✔ The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri

Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak

Don Quixote, Cervantes

Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

✔ Dracula, Bram Stoker

Dune, Frank Herbert

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Emma, Jane Austen

Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson

Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

The Godfather, Mario Puzo

The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Goodbye to All That, Robert Graves

Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

✔ Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

✔ The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling

Hawaii, James A. Michener

His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

✔ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

✔ The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

Holes, Louis Sachar

Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell

I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier

✔ The Jungle, Upton Sinclair

Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

Katherine, Anya Seton

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

Life of Pi, Yann Martel

✔ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

✔ The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

Lorna Done, R.D. Blackmore

Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

Magician, Raymond E Feist

The Magus, John Fowles

✔ Matilda, Roald Dahl

The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy

Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden

Middlemarch, George Eliot

Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Moonfleet, J. Meade Faulkner

Mort, Terry Pratchett

Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowat

Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

✔ Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

✔ The Odyssey, Home

✔ Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

On The Road, Jack Kerouac

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey

One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

Perfume, Patrick Süskind

Persuasion, Jane Austen

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

✔ Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

✔ The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli

The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

✔ The Republic, Plato

✔ Rights of Man, Thomas Paine

Roots, Alex Haley

✔ The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence

Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts

The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

The Stand, Stephen King

The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

Summa Theologica, Saint Thomas Acquinas

Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, John Le Carre

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Travels with a Donkey in Cevennes, Robert Louis Stevenson

✔ Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

The Twits, Roald Dahl

Ulysses, James Joyce

✔ Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

Walden, Henry David Thoreau

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

Watership Down, Richard Adams

✔ The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith

The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

✔ Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

✔  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig

The Big Read(ing) Bonus Challenge

Reading is great as a solitary activity. But, it can be an even greater joy when you bring the love of reading to children. I was lucky that I had a mom and dad who read to us all the time. My mom used these incredibly creative voices that helped the story jump off the pages.

The Bonus Challenge is to read books to a child (or children where possible). I've added titles from on the list of the Top 100 Children's Books as noted by the National Education Association as well as a list compiled by Time Magazine... as well as a few of my favorites!

A Bad Case of Stripes David Shannon

A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Philip C. Stead

✔ Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst

✔ Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Alligator Pie, Dennis Lee

✔ Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish

Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery

Animalia, Graeme Base

Anno's Journey, Mitsumasa Anno

✔ Are You my Mother? P.D. Eastman

Arthur's Nose (series), Marc Brown

A Bear Called Paddington, Michael Bond

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

✔ The Berenstain Bears (series), by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey

Brave Irene, William Steig

Bread and Jam for Frances, Russell Hoban

Bunnicula by James Howe

The Call of the Wild, Jack London

✔ The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss

Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, Richard Scarry

The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger

Charlie the Caterpillar, Dom DeLuise

✔ Charlotte's Web, E.B. White

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault

Chrysanthemum, Kevin Henkes

Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, Doreen Cronin

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Judi Barrett

Corduroy, by Don Freeman

✔ The Color Kittens, by Margaret Wise Brown

Crunching Carrots, Not Candy by Judy Slack

The Dark Is Rising, Susan Cooper

✔ The Day Jimmy's Boa ate the Wash, Trinka Hakes Noble

The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt

Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary

Diary of a Wombat, by Jackie French

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Williams

Elephant and Piggie (series), Mo Willems

Eloise, Kay Thompson

The Empty Pot, Demi

Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi

Extra Yarn, Mac Barnett

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce

The Five Chinese Brothers, Claire Huchet Bishop

Frederick, Leo Lionni

Frindle, Andrew Clements

✔ Frog and Toad (series), Arnold Lobel

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Chris Van Allsburg

✔ The Giver, Lois Lowry

✔ The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein

✔ Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown

Go Dog, Go, by P.D. Eastman

Good Dog, Carl, Alexandra Day

Grandfather's Journey, Allen Say

The Grouchy Ladybug, Eric Carle

The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson

Guess How Much I Love You, Sam McBratney

Harris and Me, Gary Paulsen

Harry the Dirty Dog, Gene Zion

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson

✔ Heidi, Johanna Spyri

Hello, Rock, Roger Bradfield

✔ Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss

✔ Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss

How Rocket Learned to Read, Tad Hills

The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes

I Love You, Stinky Face, Lisa McCourt

I Want My Hat Back, Jon Klassen

✔ If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Joffe Numeroff

In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak

Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

Is Your Mama A Llama? Deborah Guarino

Jazz, Walter Dean Myers

Jenny and the Cat Club, Esther Averill

Journey, Aaron Becker

Junie B. Jones, Barbara Park

Katy and the Big Snow, Virginia Lee Burton.

The Kissing Hand, Audrey Penn

Knots on a Counting Rope, Bill Martin Jr.

The Last Holiday Concert, Andrew Clements

Library Lion, Michelle Knudsen

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Kevin Henkes

✔ Little Bear, Else Holmelund Minarik

The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper

The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Lon Po Po, Ed Young

✔ The Lorax, Dr. Seuss.

Lord Of The Flies, William Golding

✔ Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch

Madeline (series), Ludwig Bemelmans

Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey

Mama Don't Allow, Thacher Hurd

Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton

Millions of Cats, Wanda Gag

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo

Miss Nelson is Missing, Harry Allard

Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney

The Mitten, Jan Brett

Mr. Popper's Penguins, Richard and Florence Atwater

My Father's Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett

My Many Colored Days, Dr. Seuss

My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George

The Napping House, Audrey Wood

The New Kid on the Block, Jack Prelutsky

No David! by David Shannon

Officer Buckle and Gloria, Peggy Rathmann

✔ Oh, The Places. You'll Go!, Dr Seuss

Olivia, Ian Falconer

Owl Moon, Jane Yolen

Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper

Paddle-to-the-Sea, Holling Clancy Holling

Pete the Cat (series), Eric Litwin

Piggie Pie, Margie Palatini

✔ Pippi Longstocking (series), by Astrid Lindgren

The Poky Little Puppy, Janette Sebring Lowrey

Press Here, by Herve Tullet

The Quiltmaker's Gift, Jeff Brumbeau

Rain Makes Applesauce, Julian Scheer

✔ The Real Mother Goose, with illustrations by Blanche Fisher Wright

The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown

✔ The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Skippyjon Jones, Judy Schachner

Slow Loris, Alexis Deacon

✔ The Sneetches, Dr. Seuss

The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats

Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon

Stephanie's Ponytail, Robert Munsch

✔ The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Jon Scieszka

The Stranger, Chris Van Allsburg

The Story About Ping, Marjorie Flack

The Story of Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff

The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig

Swimmy, Leo Lionni

Tacky the Penquin by Helen Lester

✔ The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

Thank You Mr. Falker, Patricia Polacco

The Three Questions, by Jon J. Muth

Tikki Tikki Tembo, by Arlene Mosel

✔ The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka

Tuesday, David Wiesner

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

✔ The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

We Are the Ship, by Kadir Nelson

We're Going on a Bear Hunt, by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen

Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

✔ Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

Whistle for Willie, by Ezra Jack Keats

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne

✔ Yertle the Turtle, by Dr. Seuss